Too Little Too Late?
by doctorsweetheart
Summary: Callie is about to get married...or is she? Will something or someone be able to change her mind? (One-Shot)


Callie could hardly believe it. She was getting married tomorrow. Not for the first time, not even for the second time, but for the third time.

This was certainly never how she envisioned her life. When she was a little girl, she thought she would grow up, get married, have a bunch of kids and live happily ever after.

Yet somehow, here she was. Twice divorced, with no happily ever after. But tomorrow, that all was going to change. Wouldn't it?

 _I should be excited right?_ she thought to herself. _What am I saying? Of course I'm excited. I'm getting married tomorrow!_

Callie was suddenly pulled out of her introspection when she heard a knock on the door. A small smile made it's way onto her face. She and Penny had agreed not to see each other again until the wedding, but apparently she couldn't wait that long.

She slid out of bed and grabbed her robe from the hook on the closet. She made her way to the front door and flipped the lock before pulling it open.

"Penny, I thought we agreed…" she started, until she saw who was standing on the other side. And it definitely wasn't Penny.

"Arizona," she breathed out.

"Hi," Arizona said quietly. "I'm-I'm sorry. I know it's late, I just…"

They both stared at each other, neither really knowing what to say. Finally, Callie moved to the side.

"Do you-um, do you want to come in or?" Callie asked, unsure of what Arizona was doing there.

"Just for a second," Arizona replied as she slowly walked in. They awkwardly stood inside the front door and just when Callie thought she couldn't stand the silence for another second, Arizona suddenly reached for the door handle.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come. I thought that I needed to, but now that I'm standing here…I feel like an idiot. I'm just going to go," she said as she started to pull it open.

"Wait!" Callie exclaimed. "I mean..you obviously came here for a reason. What's going on Arizona?"

Arizona sighed, inwardly debating with herself about whether she should turn around and tell Callie what she had come there for or if she was better off just cutting her losses and leaving. But deep down, she knew it was now or never. And if she didn't at least try, she would never forgive herself. So here went nothing.

"Don't marry her," Arizona said so quietly that Callie couldn't hear.

"What?" Callie asked. "Arizona, you're going to have to speak up. And for christ's sake would you look at me? You show up at midnight acting all weird on the eve of my wedding no less. I think the least you can do is look at me and give me an explanation."

Arizona turned around and took a deep breath. "I said…I said don't marry her. Don't marry Penny, Calliope."

Callie felt like all of the wind had been knocked right out of her. Surely she hadn't heard Arizona correctly. Because there is no way in the hell that her ex-wife had waited until the night before her wedding to tell her that she shouldn't be doing this.

"I know my timing is awful and if I had any guts at all I would have done this long before now. But I convinced myself that if I really loved you, I should just be happy that you're happy. Right? I mean, you're happiness is all that matters to me. Except, you're getting married. And the thought of you spending the rest of your life with someone that isn't me is killing me. It's killing me Calliope. So I need to know. I need to know for sure that we are over and she is who you want to spend the rest of your life with. Because if she is, I'll walk away. I will walk away and wish you well and know that at least I tried. But if not, if she's not it for you Calliope, please…I'm begging you, don't marry her."

Callie stood in place, a flurry of emotions passing through her. She was dreaming. She had to be dreaming. Because she was getting married tomorrow. She was getting her happily ever after tomorrow. This wasn't happening.

"Calliope," Arizona said hesitantly. "I need to hear you say it."

"Say it? Say what?" Callie said, as she finally pulled herself together enough to say something.

"That you don't love me anymore. I need to hear you say it or I won't believe it. Tell me that you don't love me anymore and I'll go."

Callie felt like she couldn't breathe. She knew she should've just gone to sleep. Maybe she wouldn't have heard the knock at the door. Maybe Arizona would've gone away. Maybe she wouldn't be dealing with all of this.

"Please," Arizona said, as tears started to fill her eyes. "I'll never be able to move on unless you just say it."

"Arizona…" Callie said, tears starting to fill her own eyes. "You know I can't. You know I can't say that."

Arizona let out of a sigh of relief and struggled to keep a sob in check.

"But, that doesn't change what's going to happen tomorrow," Callie continued.

"What?" Arizona said, her feeling of relief quickly dissipating. "But you love me. If you can't say that you don't love me, that means you still do. How-how can you marry her if you still love me?"

"It's not that simple Arizona. God, it's never been that simple with us. If it was we would still be together. But we're not. Because we just don't work."

"No, don't say that."

"I have to because it's true. We can love each other all we want, but that doesn't change the fact that we hurt each other. It doesn't change the fact that we are no good for one another. It doesn't change anything," Callie said, her voice filled with no traces of doubt, only conviction. "And what you said before is true too. If you love me, if you truly love me, you would allow me this happiness. You would give me your blessing and let me get married tomorrow."

Arizona was full blown crying now. This was not going at all how she imagined it. She thought if she could just get Callie to admit that she still loved her, that everything would be okay. Only, Callie admitted that she loved her but still wanted to marry Penny. What was Arizona supposed to do with that?

Arizona hurriedly wiped the tears from her eyes, in the hope that maybe Callie wouldn't notice just how much she was falling apart. But Arizona should've known better. Callie had always been able to read her like a book and now was no different.

Callie's features softened and she took a step towards Arizona. Arizona quickly leapt back and Callie would be lying if she said that didn't hurt a little bit. But she knew her pain was nothing compared to what Arizona was feeling right now, so she tried to mask it and attempted to move towards Arizona once more. This time, Arizona didn't move away.

Callie gently took her hand and shook her head back and forth. "We had so many chances Arizona. So many. And maybe we were supposed to end up together. Who knows? But…we didn't. And now I'm with Penny. She makes me happy. Things are…simple with her. It may not be fire, it may not be anything near what you and I had, but it's easy and it's carefree and I deserve that. After everything I've been through, I deserve that. So if you love me Arizona, if you love me, you need to let me go," Callie finished with a whisper, as tears now streamed down her face.

Arizona tried to choke back another sob, but failed miserably as it broke free. "How?" Arizona asked, as she raised her free hand and gently cupped Callie's face. "God Callie, I love you so much. How am I supposed to just let you go?"

"Arizona, don't make this any harder than it already is."

With that statement, anger flooded through Arizona's veins and she ripped her hand free of Callie's.

"Don't make this any harder than it already is?! Are you serious Callie? There is no way in hell I am going to make this easy for you. Because if you're going to walk away from us, if you're going to walk away from me, I want it to be the hardest decision you ever had to make."

"You think this isn't hard for me Arizona?!" Callie said, her own temper beginning to rise. "Do you have any idea how long I waited to hear you say that you still loved me? How long I waited for you to fight for me? But it never happened. So I moved on. I have moved on. And I won't walk out on Penny on the happiest day of her life. She doesn't deserve that."

"Is that what this is about? You're afraid of hurting Penny's feelings?"

"What? No," Callie said defensively. "I love her. I am marrying her because I love her."

"Okay, fine. You love her, whatever," Arizona said dismissively. " But are you _in_ love with her?"

"Excuse me? What right do you.."

"Just answer the question," Arizona said, cutting her off. "You were able to admit that you still love me. So it shouldn't be hard for you to say that you're in love with her. Right?"

Callie could hear the challenge in Arizona's words and she didn't like it one bit. Because she knew it shouldn't be hard for her to say. Except…it was. And what did that mean? Was she supposed to spend the rest of her life with someone just because it was easy? Just because she didn't want to hurt their feelings? Callie didn't know what to do anymore.

She threw herself on the couch as the fight slowly drained from her body.

"You can't say it because you still love me. You are still in love with me Calliope and I am still in love with you. And we can do this. I know we can, because the past three years of my life have been hell without you. I know what it's like to be without you. To truly be without you. And it's a life that I want no part of. I want a life with you. Don't you want a life with me too?"

Callie had a million reasons to say no. She had a million reasons to make Arizona leave and act like tonight had never happened. But Arizona was laying her heart on the line. She was fighting. Something Callie had waited for for so long. How was she supposed to just turn away from the love of her life?

"Of course I want a life you," Callie replied. "That is all I have ever wanted."

Arizona sat down next to Callie, eyeing the engagement ring on her left hand so opting to reach for her right.

"I have made so many mistakes. And I have hurt you in ways that I am still trying to forgive myself for. But I love you. I am so madly in love with you and I want to spend the rest of my life showing you just how much. I want to wake up wrapped in your arms every morning and I want to be able to come home in the middle of the night and tell you all about an impossible surgery that I managed to pull off and I want to have babies with your stubbornness and my perkiness. I want it all Callie. And I want it all with you."

"I want all of that too Arizona. So much. That's all I've ever wanted."

"I couldn't give it to you before Callie. I was too wrapped up in myself and my own crap. But I swear that that's over now. You and Sofia are my first and only priorities. I will never put anything before you. I just want to spend the rest of my life making you happy. So please...let me. Let me be the one to make you happy."

Callie looked at the ring on her finger. The ring that had been given to her by a woman who loved her. By a woman who had never hurt her and probably never would. By a woman who was wonderful, but who just wasn't Arizona.

Because despite everything, no one would ever be Arizona. No one would ever be able to make her heart beat faster and slower at the same time. No one would ever be able to make her feel so strongly, so deeply, and so fiercely. The fact of the matter was that Arizona was it for her. She always had been and she always would be.

"Okay," Callie said.

Arizona sat perfectly still, hardly believing the word that had just slipped from Callie's mouth.

"Okay?" Arizona repeated, needing to hear her say it again.

"I love you Arizona. And I could marry Penny and it would be nice and easy and I'd live a good life. But it wouldn't be half as happy or half as filled with love as the life we could have together. So I'm saying okay...I won't marry her."

Arizona cupped Callie's face and drew her for a kiss. It was short and sweet, but it was a kiss that she had been waiting for for three years, making it the best kiss she had ever had.

Arizona knew this was just the beginning. They had a hard road ahead of them and there was no telling how many more obstacles stood in their way. But a feeling of peace rushed through her because she finally knew…

No matter what lied ahead, they'd be facing it together.


End file.
